Audiovisual norms from shared communities

ABSTRACT

A processor-implemented method, computer system, and computer program product for managing a plurality of audio-visual teleconference distractions, including the detection of a new participant to a teleconference call; the monitoring of a stream of the detected new participant for a plurality of distraction markers; calculation of a level of distraction based on the plurality of distraction markers; and alterations performed on the monitored stream based on the calculated level of distraction satisfying a threshold.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates, generally, to the field of computing, andmore particularly to the field of teleconferencing.

Teleconferencing involves a call, which may be audio or visual, over atelecommunications network and allows multiple participants to conversewith each other simultaneously. Teleconferencing is frequently used bybusinesses to allow group interactions between employees, clients, andbusiness partners who, for reasons of convenience or cost, cannot meettogether in the same geographical location. Additionally,teleconferencing can be used in conjunction with web services to allowparticipants on the call to see video feeds of the other participants,or to display websites, presentations or programs to all participants.

SUMMARY

A processor-implemented method, computer system, and computer programproduct for managing a plurality of audio-visual teleconferencedistractions, including the detection of a new participant to ateleconference call; the monitoring of a stream of the detected newparticipant for a plurality of distraction markers; calculation of alevel of distraction based on the plurality of distraction markers; andalterations performed on the monitored stream based on the calculatedlevel of distraction satisfying a threshold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings arenot to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating oneskilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction withthe detailed description. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary networked computer environment accordingto at least one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an operational flowchart illustrating an audio-visual meetingdistraction management process according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates an alteration to the video stream by an audio-visualmeeting distraction management process according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of internal and external components ofcomputers and servers depicted in FIG. 1 according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. In the description, details ofwell-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the presented embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of computing,and more particularly to teleconferencing. The following describedexemplary embodiments provide a system, method, and program product to,among other things, reduce distraction caused by undesirable audiovisualelements in a teleconference. Therefore, the present embodiment has thecapacity to improve the technical field of teleconferencing byautomatically identifying distractions in a context-sensitive fashion,and eliminating or minimizing such distractions to ensure that meetingsremain as focused and productive as possible.

As previously described, teleconferencing involves a call over either atelecommunications network or the internet and allows multipleparticipants to converse with each other simultaneously.Teleconferencing is frequently used by businesses to allow groupinteractions between employees, clients, and business partners who, forreasons of convenience or cost, cannot meet together in the samegeographical location. Additionally, teleconferencing can be used inconjunction with web services to allow participants on the call to seevideo feeds of the other participants, or to display websites,presentations or programs to all participants.

Meetings and conference calls may be a great way to do business. Meetingowners setup meetings with audiovisual capabilities to facilitatecommunication between participants, understanding of important topicsand the advancement of business objectives. However, meetingparticipants often are impeded in their efforts to pursuebusiness-related goals over the course of a teleconference whereconflicts of attention arise; frequently, callers may introducedistracting audio elements to the call, such as coughing, whispering,drumming on the table, or other background sounds. In audiovisualconference calls, meeting participants may introduce distracting visualelements to the call, such as by conducting a presentation withdistracting symbols or browser windows, or by calling from a locationthat is exotic, busy, and/or contains distractions, such as animals,symbols, or other people in the background. As such, it may beadvantageous to, among other things, implement a system that caneliminate or minimize these audio and visual distractions to maximizefocus in meetings and thereby facilitate the achievement of the businessobjective.

According to one embodiment, a system for managing audio-visual meetingdistractions by detecting new participants to a video call, andmonitoring the communities and shared communities of detectedparticipants for behaviors and attributes may be introduced. The videocall may be monitored for associated behaviors and attributes, includinglikely distraction markers, and calculating the level of distractionbased on these distraction markers. Furthermore, the video stream of theparticipant may be altered based on the determined distraction markersand a threshold.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofembodiments of the present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method,and program product to minimize audiovisual distraction elements inconference calls, which is capable of detecting participants to a call,monitoring their call stream for distraction elements, and automaticallymodifying the call stream to minimize or remove distraction elements.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer environment 100 isdepicted, according to at least one embodiment. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include client computing device 102 and a server 112interconnected via a communication network 114. According to at leastone implementation, the networked computer environment 100 may include aplurality of client computing devices 102 and servers 112, of which onlyone of each is shown for illustrative brevity.

The communication network 114 may include various types of communicationnetworks, such as a wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), atelecommunication network, a wireless network, a public switched networkand/or a satellite network. The communication network 114 may includeconnections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber opticcables. It may be appreciated that FIG. 1 provides only an illustrationof one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard tothe environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Manymodifications to the depicted environments may be made based on designand implementation requirements.

Client computing device 102 may include a processor 104 and a datastorage device 106 that is enabled to host and run a software program108 and a meeting distraction management program 110A and communicatewith the server 112 via the communication network 114, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. Client computing device 102 maybe, for example, a mobile device, a teleconferencing set, a telephone, apersonal digital assistant, a netbook, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a desktop computer, or any type of computing device capable ofrunning a program and accessing a network. As will be discussed withreference to FIG. 3, the client computing device 102 may includeinternal components 402 a and external components 404 a, respectively.

The server computer 112 may be a laptop computer, teleconferencing set,netbook computer, personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, or anyprogrammable electronic device or any network of programmable electronicdevices capable of hosting and running meeting distraction managementprogram 110B and a database 116 and communicating with the clientcomputing device 102 via the communication network 114, in accordancewith embodiments of the invention. As will be discussed with referenceto FIG. 3, the server computer 112 may include internal components 402 band external components 404 b, respectively. The server 112 may alsooperate in a cloud computing service model, such as Software as aService (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure as aService (IaaS). The server 112 may also be located in a cloud computingdeployment model, such as a private cloud, community cloud, publiccloud, or hybrid cloud.

According to the present embodiment, software program 108 may be ateleconferencing program capable of allowing multiple users to interactwith each other through a visual or auditory medium, or a combination ofboth. Software program 108 may allow multiple users to interact throughsuch means as file, program or presentation sharing, audio streams, orvideo feed of each user. Software program 108 may be configured toaccept data from a sensor, such as a camera or microphone, which is incommunication with client computing device 102 or stores data in arepository, such as database 116 or data storage device 106, which isaccessible to client computing device 102. In an alternate embodiment,software program 108 may be hosted and run on server 112.

The meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may be a programcapable of interfacing with software program 108, monitoring the callstream of the user for distraction markers, calculating distractionmarkers or altering the call stream of the user. Meeting distractionmanagement program 110A, 110B may be further capable of accessing datastored in repositories either on the client computing device 102, suchas data storage device 106, on server 112, such as database 116, or overnetwork 114. This data may include stored information about the user,including groups the user is a part of, distraction preferences for suchgroups, and the individual preferences of the user with regard todistraction management. Additionally, meeting distraction managementprogram 110A, 110B may be hosted on client computing device 102, server112, or on some combination of devices. The meeting distractionmanagement method is explained in further detail below with respect toFIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an operational flowchart illustrating anaudiovisual meeting distraction management process 200 is depictedaccording to at least one embodiment. At 202, the meeting distractionmanagement program 110A, 110B detects a new participant to a conferencecall. Meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B detects a newparticipant to a conference call by establishing a connection with thesession initiation protocol of the teleconferencing program, such assoftware program 108. Meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bmay also establish a connection with the menu system or the invitesystem of the teleconferencing program to determine when a newparticipant is added to the call. In an alternate embodiment, meetingdistraction management program 110A, 110B may detect a new user based onutterances, visual gestures (such as waving), haptic gestures (such aspinch-zoom), or low level audio that is associated with a video call.

Next, at 204, the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bmonitors the communities and shared communities of the detectedparticipant for distraction preferences. Communities may be any onlinegroup from which distraction preferences may be extracted or inferred.Such communities may be extant groups on online resources such asLinkedIn® (LinkedIn® and all LinkedIn® based trademarks and logos aretrademarks or registered trademarks of LinkedIn Corporation and/or itsaffiliates), Facebook® (Facebook® and all Facebook® based trademarks andlogos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Facebook and/or itsaffiliates), or Slack® (Slack® and all Slack® based trademarks and logosare trademarks or registered trademarks of Slack Technologies and/or itsaffiliates), or may be files where distraction preferences are saved, ormay be groups created for the purposes of a specific call. Thedistraction preferences of the community may consist of such elements aschanging the context of what is considered a distraction marker; forinstance, if the community is a developer group, and the call streamcontains a poster containing the logo of a programming language whichwould otherwise be considered to be a distraction marker, the meetingdistraction management program 110A, 110B may not flag the poster as adistraction marker in light of the fact that the call participants areall part of a development group to which the poster is contextuallyrelevant. In another example, if developers are in a video call and onedeveloper has a beach scene in the background, and through analysis ofthe shared community a beach scene is not seen to be evident in thestudied communities, then that object may be marked as a distraction.Meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may apply thedistraction preferences of each community of which a call participant isa member, or apply the distraction preferences of those communities thatthe call participant shares with some or all of the other callparticipants. Distraction preferences may be applied uniformly to theentire call or may be applied to each call stream based on thatindividual call participant's distraction preferences.

Then, at 206, the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bmonitors the conference call for likely distraction markers. Distractionmarkers may include such elements as multiple people not looking at thecamera or screen, multiple colors in the background, abnormal objectsfor a given user (such as beach, trees, or sunglasses in a businessmeeting) or actions in the background that are not related to a meeting.These distraction markers may be negotiated based on a consensusalgorithm; for instance, if two-thirds of attendees define a factor asdistracting, then the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bapplies a rule to that factor. The distraction markers may also bedetermined by a system, a company or a group, or may be further set byhierarchy or based on ownership of the meeting or the current agendaitem. The meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may conductmonitoring based on keyframes, frames audio transition from speaker tospeaker, or every frame. To reduce processing overhead, heuristics maybe employed to optimize the amount of frames or audio that need to bemonitored. Meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may alsomonitor the audio for indicators of distraction markers; for example, ifa call participant mentions a cool poster in another call participant'svideo stream, meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B mayrecognize the poster as a distraction marker and react accordingly.

Next, at 208, the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bcalculates the level of distraction based on the distraction markers.The level of distraction may be calculated based on the sum of theweight assigned to each distraction marker. The weight assigned to eachdistraction marker may vary in magnitude based on the relative severityof the distraction caused. This weight may be calculated based on astandard deviation or an interpolation of the deviation. For videocalls, the distraction markers may be weighted in proportion to the areaof the video feed that is taken up by the distracting content. Forinstance, if the video call contains four callers, with the screendivided into four quarters each containing the video stream of a user,and one caller's video stream contains distracting content, the meetingdistraction management program may calculate the level of distraction tobe 25%. The meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may alsoapply a weight to the distractions in accordance with the impact andeye-sight of other participants, and whether participants are dwellingon the distractions.

Then, at 210, the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bdetermines if alteration is necessary. Meeting distraction managementprogram 110A, 110B determines if an alteration is necessary by checkingto see if the distraction level exceeds a threshold. This threshold maybe determined by a system, a company or a group, or may be further setby hierarchy or based on ownership of the meeting or the current agendaitem. The threshold may also be a dynamic value that takes informationinto account in real time. For instance, the meeting distractionmanagement program 110A, 110B may take into account the trajectory ofthe distraction level; in the event that the distraction level isrising, the program may decrease the threshold to increase theimportance of action being taken. According to one implementation, theaudio-visual meeting distraction management process 200 may continuealong the operational flowchart, if the distraction level exceeds thethreshold. If the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Bdetermines that the distraction level does not exceed the threshold(step 210, “NO” branch), the meeting distraction management program110A, 110B may terminate. If the meeting distraction management program110A, 110B determines that the distraction level does exceed thethreshold (step 210, “YES” branch), the meeting distraction managementprogram 110A, 110B may advance to step 212 to alter the call stream ofthe detected participant. In an alternate embodiment, if meetingdistraction management program 110A, 110B determines that thedistraction level does not exceed the threshold (step 210, “NO” branch),the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B may proceed backto step 202 to resume detection of new participants to the conferencecall.

Next, at 212, the meeting distraction management program 110A, 110Balters, based on the distraction level of the distraction markers, thecall stream of the participant. Alterations to audio may include mutingaudio altogether for callers that are judged to be distracting. Forinstance, if meeting distraction management program 110A, 110B detects aloud and persistent hammering sound in the call stream of a participant,the program may remove this distraction by muting that callparticipant's audio. Alterations to video may include dropping the callsignal for the distracting person during the distraction period,degrading video quality such that the distraction element is no longereasily discernable, selectively blurring or occluding regions of thevideo containing distracting elements, resizing the sharing/screen sizebased on the level of distraction, or degrading the video call to audioonly. An example of occluding a distracting video element is shown inFIG. 3.

It may be appreciated that FIG. 2 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to howdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements. For instance, in an alternate embodiment, meetingdistraction management program 110A, 110B may notify a user of thepresence of distraction elements prior to altering the call stream andmay highlight the distractions in the video stream, or may highlightaudio, such as whispering, coughing, or drumming on the table. In afurther embodiment, the meeting distraction management program 110A,110B may assess distraction elements in the call stream prior to thecaller appearing in the call, notify the call host of distractionelements prior to the participant joining the call, and may even preventthe participant from joining the call.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alteration to the video stream by an audio-visualmeeting distraction management process according to at least oneembodiment. At 300, a video call is depicted where the top right callparticipant has included in his video feed a second person who isengaged in activity ancillary to the business purpose of the call andwho is not participating in the call. This may be considered by meetingdistraction management program 110A, 110B to be a distraction element.At 302, the top right call participant's video feed has been altered toocclude the offending distraction element. Meeting distractionmanagement program 110A, 110B may also have dropped the call signal forthe top right call participant until the second person left, degradedthe video quality to obfuscate the second person, or resizing the topright participants' window to reduce the prominence and thereby thedistractive potential of the second person in the screen.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 of internal and external components of theclient computing device 102 and the server 112 depicted in FIG. 1 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. It should beappreciated that FIG. 4 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to theenvironments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Manymodifications to the depicted environments may be made based on designand implementation requirements.

The data processing system 402, 404 is representative of any electronicdevice capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Thedata processing system 402, 404 may be representative of a smart phone,a computer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples ofcomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that mayrepresented by the data processing system 402, 404 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputersystems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include anyof the above systems or devices.

The client computing device 102 and the server 112 may includerespective sets of internal components 402 a,b and external components404 a,b illustrated in FIG. 3. Each of the sets of internal components402 include one or more processors 420, one or more computer-readableRAMs 422, and one or more computer-readable ROMs 424 on one or morebuses 426, and one or more operating systems 428 and one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 430. The one or moreoperating systems 428, the software program 108 and the meetingdistraction management program 110A in the client computing device 102,and the meeting distraction management program 110B in the server 112are stored on one or more of the respective computer-readable tangiblestorage devices 430 for execution by one or more of the respectiveprocessors 420 via one or more of the respective RAMs 422 (whichtypically include cache memory). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG.4, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices 430 is amagnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive. Alternatively,each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices 430 is asemiconductor storage device such as ROM 424, EPROM, flash memory or anyother computer-readable tangible storage device that can store acomputer program and digital information.

Each set of internal components 402 a,b also includes a R/W drive orinterface 432 to read from and write to one or more portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 438 such as a CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk orsemiconductor storage device. A software program, such as the cognitivescreen protection program 110A, 110B, can be stored on one or more ofthe respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices 438,read via the respective R/W drive or interface 432, and loaded into therespective hard drive 430.

Each set of internal components 402 a,b also includes network adaptersor interfaces 436 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fiinterface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired orwireless communication links. The software program 108 and the meetingdistraction management program 110A in the client computing device 102and the meeting distraction management program 110B in the server 112can be downloaded to the client computing device 102 and the server 112from an external computer via a network (for example, the Internet, alocal area network or other, wide area network) and respective networkadapters or interfaces 436. From the network adapters or interfaces 436,the software program 108 and the meeting distraction management program110A in the client computing device 102 and the meeting distractionmanagement program 110B in the server 112 are loaded into the respectivehard drive 430. The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers,wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computersand/or edge servers.

Each of the sets of external components 404 a,b can include a computerdisplay monitor 444, a keyboard 442, and a computer mouse 434. Externalcomponents 404 a,b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards,touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each ofthe sets of internal components 402 a,b also includes device drivers 440to interface to computer display monitor 444, keyboard 442, and computermouse 434. The device drivers 440, R/W drive or interface 432, andnetwork adapter or interface 436 comprise hardware and software (storedin storage device 430 and/or ROM 424).

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 5, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 100 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 4 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes100 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 6, a set of functional abstraction layers 600provided by cloud computing environment 50 is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and audio-visual meeting distractionmanagement 96. Audio-visual meeting distraction management 96 may relateto analyzing both the audio and video of the call streams ofparticipants in a teleconference for sources of distraction, andaltering the call streams to eliminate or minimize distractions thatexceed pre-established thresholds.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A processor-implemented method for managing a plurality of audio-visual teleconference distractions, the method comprising: detecting a new participant to a teleconference call by establishing a connection with one or more session initiation protocols, one or more menu systems, or one or more invite systems of one or more teleconferencing programs; defining a plurality of distraction markers comprising a set of distraction preferences by a means selected from a list consisting of: consensus of call participants, determination of a program, and determination by the owner of the call; applying the set of distraction preferences to one or more members of the call; monitoring, based on keyframes, audio, audio transition from speaker to speaker, and every frame, a stream of the detected new participant for one or more distraction markers selected from a list consisting of: multiple people not looking at the camera or screen, multiple colors in the background, abnormal objects for a given user, or actions in the background that are not related to a meeting; calculating a level of distraction based on a weight of the plurality of distraction markers, where the weight is calculated based on a means selected from a list consisting of: standard deviation, interpolation of the deviation, the relative severity of the distraction caused, an amount of screen area taken up by the distraction marker, an impact and eye-sight of other participants, and whether participants are dwelling on the distraction marker; and altering the monitored stream based on the calculated level of distraction satisfying a threshold, where the threshold is pre-determined by a system, company, group, hierarchy, call owner, or program. 